A Place of Refuge
An Experiment in Communal Living - The Story of Windsor Hill Wood
Published on 2. July 2015
Book
Hardback
368 pages
978-1-84866-248-3 (ISBN)
Description
Five years ago, Tobias Jones and his wife set up a woodland sanctuary for people in a period of crisis in their lives. Windsor Hill Wood quickly becomes a well-known refuge, and a family home is transformed into a small community. Most people arrive because of a desperate need - bereavement, depression, addiction or homelessness - while others come simply because they are dismayed by modern life. A Place of Refuge is the story of an evolving community: the characters and conflicts, the miracles and mistakes. As the seasons turn in the bustling woodland, an ever-changing group of people try to share their money, their meals and ideals; making furniture, growing vegetables and rearing livestock. Encountering both violent antagonism and astounding generosity, the family open up not only their house, but also themselves, to the most demanding of judgements and transformations. This book is not about a retreat from the world, but about a deeper engagement with it.
Living alongside troubled guests, Jones examines the consequences of our way of life - seeing up close the scars of war, abuse and loneliness - and contemplates the ways in which nature and stillness offer solace to those in torment.
Living alongside troubled guests, Jones examines the consequences of our way of life - seeing up close the scars of war, abuse and loneliness - and contemplates the ways in which nature and stillness offer solace to those in torment.
Reviews / Votes
This is no Hollywood-style tale of redemption and transformation. It is something much more honest: a warts-and-all account of what it is like to try a radically different way of living, and to not only survive, but have real triumphs . . . Thanks to Jones's sense of humour the book rarely feels "worthy", in the pejorative sense, despite the subject matter . . . Admirably erudite, charming and reflective . . . To read this book is to imagine, even if only briefly, that a different way of living might be possible. -- Alice O'Keefe * Guardian * Fascinating and remarkable . . . a study of compassion in action * Sunday Times * This is an enjoyable book * Mail on Sunday * [I was] Amused and moved by this book . . . The Joneses' desire to rescue lost people is both magnificent and astonishing * The Times * Chosen as a summer read by Julian Baggini * Observer * Extremely gripping and moving . . . Often very funny . . . Jones writes beautifully about the changing seasons . . . Each night I looked forward to reading this book. Clearly there is something in our psychological make-up that longs to be part of an 'extended household', breaking bread with strangers. Or - at least - to experience it voyeuristically through the pages of a captivating memoir * Independent * There is much beauty in the story of Windsor Hill Wood, the rural idyll that Jones and Fra create together. He manages to take us with him into it . . . Jones is a sublime writer, who has the ability to bring tears to the eye * Daily Telegraph * It's a gentle meditation on a brave venture that leaves the reader uplifted and even a little enlightened * Press Association * It is Jones's humanity and gift for characterisation that make his book so captivating . . . His account rings with universal truths . . . A Place of Refuge asks difficult questions about how often mental illness is connected with the fact that 'community', as it's currently understood, is delivered through a screen * Financial Times * A wonderful book describing the bosky - sometimes bolshie - community he and his wife set up for allcomers: recovering alcoholics, addicts and anoxerics. It is written with the keenest eye for nature - human and leafy - and a wisdom learned the hard way (perhaps there is no other way) -- Kate Kellaway * Observer *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Quercus Publishing
Dimensions
Height: 241 mm
Width: 163 mm
Thickness: 33 mm
Weight
632 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-84866-248-3 (9781848662483)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
07/2015
riverrun
€3.99
Available for download
Person
Tobias Jones is the author of four non-fiction books, Blood on the Altar, The Dark Heart of Italy, Basilitica and Utopian Dreams; and the Castagnetti crime trilogy, The Salati Case, White Death and Death of a Showgirl. He has worked as a journalist in Britain for the London Review of Books, the Independent on Sunday and the Observer; and in Italy, producing two political documentary series for the Italian state broadcaster RAI 3. He lives at Windsor Hill Wood in Somerset with his wife and three children where he runs a working farm refuge.